The concept of women’s legal rights pertaining to property is always called into question in countries like Pakistan. Both Muslim majority and minority countries recognize the […]
Polygamy – Breaking the Self-Made Façade [Part One]
Polygamy remains one of the most stressed about Islamic practices in our society and even though men and women speak of it with the same zeal […]
Dower: Unveiling the Truth – Genuine Protection or Mere Deception?
The discussion around women’s rights under Islamic law still continues and involves various perspectives including those of Islamic legal experts, traditionalists and orientalists who keep engaging […]
Know Your Rights: The Delegated Right to Divorce
The concept of talaq (divorce) within the Pakistani society is often frowned upon and, as per Islamic principles, should be avoided. However, it is no secret […]
India Approves 60 Day Special Maternity Leave in Case of Infant Death
On September the 2nd, 2022, in a welcome move, the Indian government announced a 60-day special maternity leave for women who give birth to stillborn babies […]
From Roe v. Wade to Dobbs v. Jackson: Legal Reasoning and Lawmaking
While the change of opinion of the US Supreme Court from allowing abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973 to prohibiting it in Dobbs v. Jackson […]
SVRF- A Revolutionary Framework to Eliminate Sexual Violence
The Sexual Violence Response Framework 2020- 2024 (SVRF)[1] has been developed by the Government of Sindh (GoS) with technical support of the Legal Aid Society (LAS).[2] […]
Fighting Rape with Legislative Reform
[TRIGGER WARNING] “Legal language does more than express thoughts. It reinforces certain world views and understanding of events.”[1] The crime of rape is old in age, […]
Sigh of Relief: Two-Finger Test Abolished, Anti-Rape Ordinance Promulgated
Pakistan, after the partition of the subcontinent and its independence from British rule, inherited most of the British legal framework and its practices. An infamous practice […]
Timely Abolishment of the Two-Finger Test Would Have Favoured Mukhtaran Mai’s Rape Appeal – In Conversation with Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan
[TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic Content] Ever since Justice Ayesha Malik ruled in favour of the abolishment of the abhorrent two-finger test in rape cases, I was intrigued […]
No More Dignity Trials
No More Dignity Trials Lamented as a colonial relic but also labeled as pejorative and contemptuous, the “two finger test” has been used to ascertain whether […]
What the LHC Decision on the Virginity Test Means
The mere thought of a traumatized female rape victim having to go through something as gruesome as the compulsory two-finger virginity test is enough to send […]
Extending Women’s Rights to Unilateral, No-Fault Based Khula
The injunctions of Islam regarding gender are based on equality without any discrimination whatsoever. However, women in Pakistan have been struggling to obtain these rights guaranteed […]
In Loving Memory of Shaigan Shareef Malik
إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُون We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Shaigan Shareef Malik, former Federal Secretary (Pakistan Administrative Service BS-22), Government of […]
Redressing Under-Representation of Women in Law with Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women
The Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women (ANHW) Pakistan presents the Islamabad Bar Council Election Debate 2020: Redressing Under-representation of Women in Law, scheduled to take place […]
The Indignity of the Two-Finger Test
Two men recently brutally raped a woman in front of her two minor children when her car broke down on the night of 10th September, 2020 […]
Sexual Violence During Armed Conflict: An Inevitable Reality?
Despite being acts of shame, sexual atrocities have been committed against women since a long time. ‘Sexual violence’ is not a new term but it is […]